Epic post, really good advice, MInt is the way to go IMO as well, the Xfce version is perfect for my needs and really stable, indeed having dabbled with linux for years this is the only version I have used for more than a year, actually just checked and I have been on mint now since 2020 with just the one upgraded installation. I actually duel boot but never actually boot into window for anything other than occasional work needs.
Basically my heart is here now and this is where I come for social media , that does not mean I will not use reddit from time to time , but those times are getting less and less, my main reason to use reddit now is to promote lemmy. To give a better idea I spent probably an hour a day on reddit or two or three visits. Now I have not visited for over a week and recent visits have been a few minutes.